The Arizona sentinel., 1887-04-30
FEATHERED FISHERMEN.

the Kind Pufin Who Strings Her Fish on
 Her Beak.
 Perhaps you have heard how men
 sometimes catch fish at night merely
 by rowing over the water with light
 in the boat. The fish, attracted by the
 light, jump into the boat
 It is said-I will not vouch for this
 story, though it is likely enough-that the heron catches fish by the same de- vice. At night the feathers of its
 breast emit sort of phosphorescent glow, and the bird, as if aware of this fact, takes up its stand on dark night,
 up to its knees in the water, and waits,
 with ready beak, for the deluded fish to
 spring up at the light on it's breast
 When they do spring. it is into total
 and perpetual darkness, for no cham pion catcher is more certain than the heron.
 As a rule, however, birds catch their fish in fair chase, instead of by device, and it is marvel that they can do so. Some birds, like the osprey, for exam pie, sail about in the air until they sight fish near the surface, when they swoop down and snatch their prey in their claws. The king-fsher, on the other hand, either sits on limb over the water, or hovers over it, until a fish is spied, when it darts down head foremost and catches the fish in it's beak
 But most birds fairly take to the wa ter, and in some cases even lose the power of flying.
 The penguin is an example of this. It not only can not fly, but it even has not feathers to make it bird-like, though in all other respects it is true bird. Few fish have any chance at all against the pen guin, with its wedge-like body and paddle-like wings and feet The swift ness of birds course in the water is almost incredible, though some idea of it may be gained from the statement that the great auk-a now extinct bird could swim under water as fast as most birds fly; and all fishing birds which capture bv chase must, of course, be swifter than the fish they catch.
 Catching fish is not the whole of a birds duty, however. Like their human types, the birds have their chil- dren to provide for, and it is interest ing enough to observe how the differ ent birds contrive to carry home the captured fish.
 The snake-bird, or darter, which lives in our Southern lakes, has plan which may do for little snake-birds, but would not suit us. The name of the bird is taken from its extremely long neck, which is usually the only part of its body seen above water when it is swimming. It is very easy to mistake this neck for a snake. When the snake-bird has caught and swal- lswed sufficient quantity of fish. it re- turns home, and takes up 8 position convenient to the nest. There it opens its mouth, and little snake-bird liter ally dives into it head-foremost.
 Its body, indeed, does not disappear. though any person seeing the perform ance for the first time would certainly expect it to; but the entire head and neck do, and remain so for a moment, when after slight wriggle, they begin to come out, and it is seen that the lit tie bird has brought up fish from the interior department of the old bird. Each of the little birds makes similar dive down the old birds throat, and probably it is only by the most lively efforts at digestion that the parent ever manages to get meal for itself.
 With the pelican it is different. The pelican, of one or another species, is very common bird in our Southern and Western waters, and is a most inde- fatigable fisher. It carries a huge pouch suspended from the outer rim of it's great under bill. The body of the bird is very large, and it often has twelve feet spread of wings; but the head is big. out of all proportion to the size of the bird. Consequently, the pouch is large beyond the imagination of a person who has not seen it. This pouch, nevertheless, the pelican fills, and it carries home to its young the fish it has caught
 The oldest way of carrying fish. however, is practiced by a beautiful little bird called the Arctic puftin. This bird, which from its gorgeous col bring and heavy beak, is some times called the parrot of the sea. lives, as its name implies, in the Arctic regions. It is an odd little creature, and is particularly noted for its affection for the young of its kind. It will adopt and rear any little ones which have lost their parents. This is all the more singular because parental love and home-love usually go to- gether, and the puffin thinks so little of home that it not only does not build a nest, but even goes so far as to take possession of the habitation of another animal. When it goes fishing the putin hangs Its prey on it's under bill by their gills, until the under bill is hung full, when it returns home. - John R. CoryeU, to Golden Rule.
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